Google 3a: An Affordable Phone with Upgraded Features

The new Google Pixel 3a phone is an affordable and worthy alternative to their Pixel 3 flagship phone. It has a great camera, unlimited Google photo storage, and more.

No doubt, the market is flooded with cellphones.  If you want to get the latest and greatest, it’s going to set you back at least $800. 

Of course, you can buy used phones for a cheaper price.  There are also a number of lower cost phones under $300, but you really need to give up a lot of valued features, like a nice camera, ample storage, and large battery size.

In May, Google made a more affordable version of its Pixel 3 phone, a phone that retails at $799.  They introduced the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, retailing for $399 and $479, respectively.

The Pixel 3a and 3a XL phones, although lower in cost, have a surprising amount of high quality features you’d expect on more expensive phones.

In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the Pixel 3 and 3a.  They have the same look, although the 3a’s case is made out of plastic rather than glass. 

Not a problem as it makes it lighter in weight and the plastic gets covered in a case anyways.

The Pixel 3 has a dual front camera whereas the 3a has only one camera.  Nonetheless, many of the camera features and software are similar, making the Pixel 3a a great buy.

And since they are Google phones, they naturally inherit cool Google features that have not rolled out to other Android phones.

7 Unique Features to the Google Pixel

1.  Squeeze for Assistance – With its Active Edge, just squeeze the lower part of the outside edges of the phone for Google Assistant to pop up.  Ask the weather forecast, how to get to the airport, or to text your friend.  It’s a shortcut to Google Assistant with little effort.
2. Unlimited Storage in Google Photos – Pixel buyers get worry-free backup with Google Photos. All photos and videos can be backed up — for free — with Google’s cloud service.
3. 24/7 Included Voice and Chat Support – Google’s customer support team is available around the clock to help you with any problems or questions you might have regarding your Pixel.  You can even screen share with them so the Google employee can fix your phone directly.

      4.  Screen Your Calls – With a click on the screen, you can choose to have the Google Assistant answer your call with a preformulated message.  In realtime, you can read how the caller responded to your message through Google’s free transcription service.  You can even ask additional questions of the caller (all preformulated) or respond back that you’ll call the person later.

     5.   Secured with Titan M – Tital M is a security chip that protects your most sensitive data.

     6.  Playground Photography – Using Playground, you can add Pokemon, Marvel Studios, and other characters into your pictures for extra fun.  They move around and interact a bit with your subject.

Features:

• Incorporates 5.6-inch full HD+ and OLED, with a resolution of 2220 x 1080
• 12.2MP back camera
• 8MP front camera
• Uses a USB-C port for faster charging
• Includes headphone jack also!
• Squeeze the phone edges to activate Active Edge, which brings up Google Assistant
• Has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for security
•  3,000mAh all day and night battery – can last up to 30 hours
• Night Sight – gives you rich colorful pictures with no flash at night
• Unlimited storage in Google Photos
• Fast charging
• Secured with Titan M, from passwords to the OS, Google’s custom-made Titan M security chip protects your data
• Google Lens now works instantly in the camera app, even with no data connection
• A Flip to Shhh feature instantly mutes notifications

Pros:

• Affordable price point with many great features
• Includes many of the Pixel 3 camera features like Photobooth, Top Shot, Night Sight, and more
• The battery lasts all day long
• Lightweight
• Because it’s a Google phone, the Pixel 3a will receive Google unique features and Android updates faster
• Unlimited photo storage in Googe Photos
• Fantastic camera 

This photo taken with the Google Pixel 3a at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London this summer.

Cons:

• There is no wireless charging
• The casing is made from plastic, feels inexpensive
• Only has one front-facing speaker instead of two
• Active Edge – need to squeeze pretty hard to initiate Google Assistant – doesn’t work with a strong case
• Phone is not water resistant
• Although there is free unlimited storage in Google Photos, they are saved at a compressed high quality rather than original resolution

The Pixel 3A is available unlocked in black, white, and purplish directly from Google for $399 plus shipping.  The Pixel 3a XL is available for $479 plus shipping.

AMAZON PRIME DAYS DEALS on Google Pixel (June 15-16, 2019 only):

• Pixel 3aXL: $100 gift card with any purchase 

• Pixel 3 and 3XL: $260 off across all models; originally started out at $799 and $899, respectively 

A Mom’s Perspective

The Pixel 3a is a nice phone.  I love using top-of-the-line phones, but honestly, I could easily get used to the Pixel 3a.  For me, the camera is one of the most essential features of a phone and the Pixel 3a does well with this.

In fact, using Night Sight, I can get some really good pictures with nice lighting on the subject. 

While we were on vacation, each family member (all with different brand phones) tried to take an inside picture of some of us sitting in front of a bright window. 

Only the Pixel 3a was able to take a decent shot, showing the people clearly sitting in front of the window.  All the other phones only showed dark shadows with a hint of people sitting in front of the window.

Google Lens is another feature I found helpful.  It is baked into the camera.  We recently had a water heater installed. 

As the installer was finishing up his work, I snapped a picture of the side of the box with the model number and SKU code.  I then tapped on the Google Lens button when reviewing my photo to see what would happen.

Google showed me a bunch of similar pictures of similar model boxes.  But I was also given the option to see the Navien website, manufacturer of our new electric heater. 

From there I could see that there is a $600 rebate available.  Cool!  I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise.

I love getting new Android features first by having a Google Pixel phone.  As a tech enthusiast, this is golden!

Looking for other Google related stories?

• A Google Assistant Clock Gets Your Morning Going
• The Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant
• Best Ways to Use Google Home
• Translate from English to Spanish & More with free Google Translate

*I was given a Google Pixel 3a in exchange for my honest feedback.  All opinions are my own.